American Express PGA Tournament Begins In La Quinta

LA QUINTA, CA — Justin Thomas is the pre-tournament favorite in the $8.8 million The American Express PGA tournament that begins Thursday at three courses in La Quinta following the injury-related withdrawals of Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, the top two players on the Official World Golf Ranking.

The 31-year-old Thomas is the 12-1 pre-tournament favorite as he seeks his first PGA Tour win since the 2022 PGA Championship and 16th of his career, according to BetMGM, an official betting operator of the PGA Tour. South Korean Sungjae Im is the second choice at 14-1 and American Sam Burns the third choice at 16-1.

One year after becoming the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open, Nick Dunlap will attempt to become the first player to win The American Express in consecutive years since Johnny Miller in 1976. He is the co-13th choice at 55-1.

Thomas played in the final group in the final round of last year's The American Express and finished in a three-way tie for third, two strokes behind Dunlap. It would be his best finish until tying for second in the Zozo Championship in the 19th of his 20 starts of the year.

Thomas had six top 10 finishes in 2024, 10 top 25 finishes and made 16 cuts. He was 21st on the money-winning list with $5,223,561 and 41st in scoring average, averaging 69.62 strokes per round.

"I had a lot of good last year and played solid golf, but it was a season without any trophies, and I don't want to say not acceptable, but it's not my favorite thing in the world, I'll just say that," Thomas said Wednesday. "I just got to keep plugging, keep working on what I'm working on, but, the next step is definitely winning, winning and winning more."

Thomas will be making his fourth start at The American Express. He missed the cut in 2014 and tied for seventh in 2015.

Dunlap entered the tournament in 2024 through a sponsor's exemption as a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Alabama with a goal of "just try to come here and learn" after missing the cuts at his first three PGA Tour starts.

Not only did he learn, he won, finishing one stroke ahead of South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

Dunlap turned professional four days later, then finished 80th in his first tournament as a professional, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and missed the cut in his second, The Genesis Invitational.

He missed the cuts at all three majors he played in -- the Masters Tournament, PGA Championship and U.S. Open -- but had four top 25 finishes in his first 16 starts as a professional, then won the Barracuda Championship, an alternate event played the same week as the British Open, becoming the first player to win as an amateur and professional in the same season.

"I knew it was going to be a learning curve," Dunlap said. "I wasn't expecting to come out and dominate early. You go from college golf to playing against the best players in the world, that's a huge jump. It definitely took a little while, but I think now I'm a lot more comfortable with myself more than anything and my game will get better as I get older and learn more out here."

Dunlap was voted by his fellow players as the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. He tied for 10th in his latest event, the Sony Open in Hawaii, which concluded Sunday.

Dunlap will begin the tournament at the La Quinta Country Club where he shot a 12-under 60 last year, tying the PGA Tour record for the lowest round by an amateur.

The highest ranked player in the field of 156 is 2023 U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, who is ranked seventh.

The field also includes Rickie Fowler, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour who was born and raised in Murrieta.

The field will be reduced to the low 65 and ties following the conclusion of the third round. Sunday's final round will be played at the Pete Dye Stadium Course. The winner will receive $1.584 million.

Since The American Express became a 72-hole event in 2012, the winner's margin of victory has not been more than two strokes in any year.

The tournament will be televised daily through Sunday from 1-4 p.m. on Golf Channel. Additional coverage will be streamed on the ESPN+ streaming service from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. daily through Sunday.

The four-time Grammy-winning country vocal group Little Big Town will perform a concert on the PGA West Stadium Course driving range following conclusion of play Friday. The rock band Journey, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, will perform a concert at the same site following conclusion of play Saturday.

All Friday and Saturday tournament tickets include admission to the concerts. There are no concert-only tickets.

The concert area on the Pete Dye Stadium Course driving range will open to spectators at 4 p.m., with the concerts expected to start at approximately 5 p.m. Chairs and blankets will only be allowed in designated areas.

All tickets are digital and are available at www.theamexgolf.com.

General parking is in the P Lot and the entrance is on the southbound side of Jefferson Street, across from The Hideaway Golf Club between Avenue 52 and Avenue 54. Daily parking is $20. Shuttles will take fans from the parking lot to the tournament entrance.

Gates will open at 7:30 a.m. daily with play beginning at approximately 8:30 a.m.

Checking the weather forecast before going to the tournament is recommended. Cool mornings and sunny afternoons are expected, so dressing in layers is the best idea.

Tournament organizers call sunscreen, a hat, comfortable shoes and binoculars "must-have items."